They say it takes 7 weeks to make things a habit. While it hasn't yet been 7 weeks, we all seem to be getting in the habit of getting out on the road for our daily runs. It's becoming a routine and one that I don't dread but look forward to at the end of what has lately been, a very long day.
Now that I am into my second term teaching, I can see how last term I was really just getting into the routine of things. This term seems to be going much smoother for me. While I work with great co-teachers, these last couple of weeks I really feel like I am making headway in the classes and being an effective and creative teacher. Recently, I have been being much more diligent about making sure homework is turned in, spelling tests are administered and punishments are doled out (instead of making empty threats). While I know these points are making a difference in my student's performance, it means more work. On top of this, we have a lot going on with all the new books that have been donated to the Foundation for our libraries. Running in the evenings gets my mind off work for an hour; relieving my stress.
As Meg and I ran this week, we talked about discipline problems in our classes; discussing what has worked and what really hasn't been effective. Discipline in an Indian classroom with an American as the teacher is often a precarious routine. While it is illegal to hit students, most teachers still do to maintain authority in the classroom. With 70 students in a class, things obviously get out of hand. I don't, under any stretch of the imagination, feel comfortable with hitting students so I have to find more creative ways to illicit their cooperation. On Friday, I put my new disciplinary plan into action - if homework was not brought in in my 9A class, the students would be picking up garbage from the school yard. One girl brought in the assignment. We went over her homework and I gave her one on one help while the rest of the kids picked up their trash that they prefer to throw on the ground; both in the classroom and outside it. Let's see if they bring in Monday's homework...we might have a really clean school yard after next week if not!
More training news to come...it's time to lace up my shoes for a long run....